


Holding On

by neverminetohold



Category: Original Work
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Introspection, Non-Explicit Sex, Post-Apocalypse, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 20:29:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15614385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverminetohold/pseuds/neverminetohold
Summary: Chance had thrown them together. They had nothing in common – except that they needed each other.





	Holding On

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sumi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumi/gifts).



Jared stared down at his hands, the calluses, shallow cuts and dirt, ground into every pore and dark underneath his nails. He could still feel her ribs digging into his palms as her back arched in pleasure. How dry her sunburned skin had been, taut and hot to the touch.

He had licked the salt from the dip of her belly button, made Alice squeal and thrash, and choked her laughter with a firm grip, afraid of what the echoes might draw to their makeshift camp.

They had met in the streets, two strangers running for their lives in the wake of chaos and confusion and destruction. He couldn't say why he had stopped to take her hand, helped her back on her feet and urged her to follow. They had nothing in common. The homeless loser wearing threadbare clothes, all his belongings in a plastic bag, and daddy's little girl, with no life experience beyond shopping, social media, and partying.

She had begun to fade, her colors drained away. Her hair was bleached almost white now, framing a lined and ruddy face, the nail polish and makeup long gone, her easy smile lost. Drawing it back out took hard work, a waste of effort with their daily survival at stake, but he made it his mission to try whenever he had some energy left.

Jared squinted up at the sun, sitting too low and close and orange on the horizon, twice as big as it used to be. The heat was suffocating, like moving underwater in a searing current that sapped the strength and breath right out of them.

He stood, swaying on his feet like a drunk, heart pounding in his temples and black spots dancing in front of his eyes. Alice was still sleeping, curled up naked in the shade of a dying tree.

They would make it to the mountains, the cabin, the lake. They had to.

XXX

Alice woke with a start. Jared was gone from her side, his gentle snoring, the hulking bulk of his body, leaving her open to be pelted with grains of sand. This was the new normal, sleeping under the stars, sweaty and gross, and grateful to be alive.

No more hangovers, soaking in a bubble bath, agonizing over what to wear, champagne and salmon on buttered toast for breakfast. Rats didn't taste all that bad. Neither did canned dog food. Not after going hungry for days.

_Adapt or die. Funny how the end of the world put things into perspective._

Alice blinked against the bright morning light and yawned, stretching luxuriously. Half asleep it was easy to pretend that she was back in her loft and queen-size bed, despite the ache of sore muscles.

Jared wouldn't have gone far without waking her, not with the threat of wild dogs and other survivors hanging over them like a dark cloud. Surely he had just left to check on the traps he had set last evening.

Alice raised her hand and stared at it. He had grabbed her and pulled her along, saving her from being crushed by the stampede of a panicking crowd. She had struggled at first, slugged him with her Chanel bag, disgusted that such a homeless, dirty creep would dare to touch her.

_The way I treated him, like some kind of servant... Even though I wouldn't have made it without him. Even though I make things so much more difficult for him..._

Alice sat up with an explosive sigh and slapped her cheeks until they burned. Humming her favorite pop song, she rummaged in her backpack for some clothes. _I have to make myself useful, try harder, from now on. I can't simply rely on him for everything._

She had no doubt that they would make it. Together.

 


End file.
